Learning Curve
by LadyAlesha
Summary: Post "Greeks Bearing Gifts" Tosh is sick of waiting for love to find her or Owen to notice her and decides to take matters into her own hands. Eventually Tosh/Owen
1. Chapter 1

Title: Learning Curve

Fandom: Torchwood

Rating: T for now, might go up later on

Pairings: Tosh/Mary, Tosh/OC, Owen/Diane, Tosh/Owen, minor Jack/Ianto

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or any of its characters, they belong to the BBC and Russell T. Davies. I do own Chris, though.

Summary: Post "Greeks Bearing Gifts" Tosh is sick of waiting for love to find her (or Owen to notice her) and decides to take matters into her own hands.

Author's Note: This was originally meant to be a drabble, but the idea stuck with her and has since been expanded to become a short chaptered story. I kept chapter 1 as it was when it was still only a drabble, so it's rather short, the next chapters are at least twice as long. Chapter 2 is currently with my beta (Thanks for all your work, by the way, Sophie.) and chapter 3 is done on paper with the last scene waiting to be typed up. So I should manage to update fairly regularly, say once a week, at first.

**Chapter 1**

Tosh watched Jack walk away until she couldn't see him anymore, then she turned to gaze out over the bay. So here she was again, at the end of the day, alone.

Sure, Jack had been there, but he didn't really understand what she was going through. Jack didn't do relationships, he didn't get attached. Privately she thought he must have gotten badly burned in the past, must have been hurt by someone he loved and was now hiding behind his flirty smile and devil-may-care attitude to never have to go through that much pain again. She herself, on the other hand, couldn't imagine having a one-night stand, not even to save herself from the pain that always followed. She always got attached, it was just the way she was.

Her brief talk with Owen and Gwen hadn't helped either. Instead, she had had to listen to Gwen tell her that she wouldn't stop sleeping with Owen and Owen's blunt words and easy dismissal had torn open wounds that had slowly healed ever since she had met Mary.

And then there was Ianto. Ianto who was still suffering from losing Lisa, but had nevertheless tried to help her. Maybe she should have taken him up on his offer to listen while she talked. Now that she was alone, having time to sort through her thoughts wasn't as appealing anymore as it had been when she had talked to Ianto.

She rummaged through her bag, intent on finding her phone, when someone sat down next to her. Surprised she looked up and came face to face with none other than Ianto Jones.

"Ianto, what…?"

"I don't care what you say, Tosh, you shouldn't be alone. Not tonight," he said with quiet intensity. "If you don't want to talk that's fine, but I won't let you go through this by yourself."

"Actually," Tosh said, a shy smile spreading across her face, "I was just about to call you. Having you here for company doesn't sound so bad after all."

Ianto returned her smile and the two of them fell into a comfortable silence. Tosh went back to staring at the water, oddly comforted by the knowledge that Ianto was sitting just a few feet away from her. She didn't notice her tears starting to fall again and if Ianto did, he didn't say anything. Instead, she felt him taking her hand and squeezing gently, all the while watching small waves ripple across the otherwise still water of the bay. Tosh squeezed back, but made no move to wipe away her tears.

They were still sitting in that very same spot when the sun rose the next morning, neither having noticed how much time had passed.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or any of its characters, they belong to the BBC and Russell T. Davies. I do own Chris, though.

**Chapter 2**

Seeing the sun brought new tears to Toshiko's eyes. She had always loved watching the sun rise, heralding a new day full of possibilities. But now looking at the sun only made her think about what she had lost.

Mary, her beautiful Mary, had been burned to death up there, light years away from home. Rationally she knew that Mary had deserved to die. But even knowing about all the people Mary had killed with her bare hands didn't stop Tosh from mourning her. Mary had been there when she most needed someone, when everyone else had either ignored her or been too lost in their own suffering to notice. But Mary had been there, had listened to her rant and rave and had made her feel as if what she thought mattered, as if she herself mattered. Tosh had loved her for it, and finding out who she was and what she had done hadn't changed anything about that.

"God, you must think I'm pathetic, carrying on like this over someone I've only known for two days," she said, angrily wiping away her tears.

"You're not pathetic, Tosh," Ianto said quietly, "You just care more deeply than the rest of us."

"Don't say that. You guys don't care less than I do. Jack and Owen, maybe, although I'm not so sure about Jack. But you and Gwen, you love at least as deeply as I do, maybe even more so."

Ianto shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with her.

Silence settled over them again, enveloping them like a blanket, soft and warm. Minutes passed, until Tosh suddenly said, "Tell me about her; tell me about Lisa."

Ianto stiffened.

"You don't have to, if you don't want to," Tosh backpedalled, gently squeezing his hand. "I just thought it might help to have someone just listen, you know, same thing you offered me."

"Which you turned down, if I remember correctly," Ianto said dryly.

Tosh blushed. "I'm-," she started to apologise, but Ianto's quiet words cut her off.

"Lisa was energetic, funny; she was just so full of life. It was as if the room was brighter as soon as she came in, as if the drapes had been drawn back and sun light was finally streaming in. She was always smiling or laughing and wherever she went others started smiling, too. Her happiness was contagious."

A fond smile played on his lips while he remembered the time before the battle of Canary Wharf, a time, when all had been right in his world. "The first time we met, she came down to the archives looking for a file. She and Melinda. Finding the file took ridiculously long, because they kept distracting me, asking me the most personal questions imaginable. She later told me that another woman on their floor had told them the new archivist, meaning me, looked cute when he blushed and they were trying to see how red my face would get. A few days later she came back to return the file, alone, and asked me out on a date."

Tosh smiled, trying to imagine a blushing Ianto. He never blushed when Jack flirted with him, just calmly reminded him that his flirting could be classified as harassment.

"We wanted to get married," Ianto continued. His choked words wiped the smile of Tosh's face immediately. "We had it all figured out. As soon as my promotion went through, we would look for a bigger flat, maybe even a small house, and get married. Lisa wanted a summer wedding so we could have the ceremony outside. We'd already asked for time off to go on our honeymoon. And then the Daleks and the Cybermen came."

Tosh pulled him into a tight hug. The silent tears streaming down his face broke her heart and made her feel even more selfish for wallowing in self-pity over Mary. Here was a man who had lost so much more than a few days companionship, who had fought for so long only to lose everything. After that night, when they had had to kill Lisa, she hadn't seen him cry again. He came back to work the next morning and continued where he had left off the night before, cleaning up after them. But the life had left his eyes. He did his job impeccably, but she could see the change in him, the warmth was gone from his eyes and his smile had become hollow.

But she had been too lost in her own problems to do more than notice it in passing. Problems, she now realized, were petty compared to what he had gone through, to what he was still going through. She had taken him for granted, just like the rest of the team took her for granted. She silently vowed to never look away from his pain again, to cherish his friendship and become worthy of it.

Ianto allowed her to hold him until he had regained control of his emotions. He smiled gratefully and said, "How do you feel about getting some breakfast? We could get something for Jack, too, and take it to the hub with us."

So they were not going to talk about what had just happened. Tosh could work with that, she was just happy he had opened up to her and allowed her to comfort him. "Yes, that sounds good," she said, smiling back at him.

Together they stood up and headed for the next bakery.

**

Jack was climbing out of his bunker, when the proximity alarm started blaring and the cog door rolled back to admit Ianto and Tosh into the hub. He crossed over to his office door and called out, "Ianto, Toshiko, I wasn't expecting to see you for a few hours at least. Your beds not comfy enough this morning?"

Tosh blushed, "We never actually made it home."

"And we brought breakfast, sir. Bagels with cream cheese, your favourite," Ianto added, before Jack had the chance to say anything.

"You did? Today must be my lucky day: delicious breakfast, gorgeous company," Jack said, giving Ianto an exaggerated once over and winking at Tosh, "Whatever I did to deserve this, I'll have to do it more often."

Ianto rolled his eyes. "I'll just go and make some coffee then, shall I?"

When Ianto was out of earshot, Jack's face turned serious. "How are you feeling, Toshiko?"

Tosh seemed to stop and think for a few seconds. "Better than last ni-" she started, then settled on, "I'm better. Ianto helped a lot," A small smile graced her lips.

Jack nodded. "You'll be alright. Give it a little time, but I have no doubt you'll pull through this, Tosh. You're made of tough stuff."

"Thanks, Jack."

He squeezed her shoulders, then moved past her and led the way to the conference room where they unpacked the food Tosh and Ianto had brought with them. Ianto joined them a few minutes later with freshly-brewed coffee.

When Owen and Gwen arrived a few hours later, they were still there. Jack was telling a story, waving his hands around for emphasis, Tosh was giggling and even Ianto had a genuine smile on his lips.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** Sorry about the delay. didn't let me upload anything for the last few days. I think I forgot to say it before now, but thank you for your reviews, each and every one make me insanely happy. *hugs*

**Disclaimer:** Torchwood belongs to the BBC and Russell T. Davies. I only own the OC who will appear in Chapter 4.

**Chapter 3**

Tosh started working on the list for UNIT Jack had requested, but the task didn't require her full attention and soon her mind was wandering. Involuntarily she ended up thinking about Mary again.

But now that she had mostly come to terms with Mary's death, her mind turned to the questions of what she had actually been and where she had come from. What did she really know about Mary? She had said she wanted to go home, but she had never told Tosh where home was. And apart from showing Tosh what she really looked like for only a few moments, she hadn't revealed anything about her people, her species, either. No, that wasn't true; she had mentioned one thing, their use of the necklace to communicate. All in all it wasn't a lot of information.

Maybe Jack knew more about her, Tosh thought, he seemed to have an almost endless knowledge of alien species. But could she ask him about it? Would he understand why she needed to know, why her mind wouldn't let her rest until she had unearthed every last scrap of information she could? Yes, she decided, Jack would understand or at least accept her need to know more. Her relentless curiosity was one of the reasons he had hired her after all.

Having made the decision to ask, Tosh returned to the list she was compiling with renewed vigour. The sooner she was done with it, the sooner she could go talk to Jack.

Two hours and no rift alarm later Tosh was done. She attached the file to an email and sent it to Jack before going off to look for Ianto.

He wasn't at his small desk and she hadn't seen him go down to the archives, so it stood to reason that he was manning the tourist office. She took the lift upstairs and, as she had expected, there was Ianto, typing away on the computer. He didn't take his eyes off the screen when she came in and she didn't want to disturb him, so she waited.

Two minutes later, he turned to her. "Did you need something, Tosh?"

"I came to ask for a favour," she started hesitantly. At Ianto's nod she continued, "I want to ask Jack about Mary and I think he'd be a little more receptive if he had some of your gorgeous coffee, so I was wondering…"

"Two cups of coffee, coming right up," Ianto said, already on his feet. He locked the door and flipped the sign over to read 'closed', then walked down into the hub with her. "Go ahead, I'll be along in a few minutes."

"Thank you, Ianto." Tosh smiled at him before he walked up the stairs leading to his minuscule desk and the coffee machine.

"Ianto, wait," she suddenly called when he was half-way up the stairs.

He turned back to her and raised an eyebrow in silent question. Tosh blushed. "I… I thought… That is, I wanted to ask if you would like to go for a drink sometime after work? Get to know each other better? We never see each other outside the hub, all of us, I just thought I'd be nice to…"

"Sounds good," Ianto interrupted gently. "How about tomorrow? We'll need tonight to catch up on our sleep after last night."

Tosh nodded happily. They held eye contact for another few seconds, then both turned to go, Tosh into Jack's office and Ianto upstairs to make the coffee.

Jack was bent over some paperwork, either deep in thought or day dreaming, when Tosh reached his office. She knocked on the frame of the open door and waited for him to look up before she entered.

"Toshiko, what can I do for you?"

"I finished the list for UNIT, it should be in your inbox next time you check your email," she said.

Jack nodded his thanks. "I'm sure you did great work, as usual. But surely that's not why you came here. What did you really want to talk about?"

"I wanted to talk about Mary," Tosh began. When it looked as if Jack wanted to interrupt, she raised her hand, asking him to hear her out. "I'm not here because of what you did to her. I understand why you had to do it. I wanted to ask what you know about her… her species, where she came from, how they're organised. They did send her into exile, so there has to be some kind of government."

"As I said when we found it, I've never seen a transporter like hers before; took me ages to figure out what it actually was, and there are lots of aliens that can take over a human body. Sorry, Tosh," Jack said, looking genuinely sorry for not being able to help.

"What if you knew what she really looked like? The alien form, I mean?"

Jack sat up straight at that. "She showed you?" he asked, "She showed you how she looked without the host body?"

"Yes," Tosh said. "And it was amazing, Jack, really amazing. She was so beautiful. Her body looked human enough, but her skin was translucent, you could see bright light flow all through it. Her veins and arteries, I think. And where we have our heart, there was a bigger, brighter spot of light. The skin itself was a blue-purple colour and from her head there grew darker purple hair, only it was different from ours, almost like tentacles-"

A knock sounded on the door. "Sorry to interrupt, sir. But here's the coffee you asked for, Tosh," Ianto said, putting down one cup in front of Jack and handing the other to Tosh.

"Thank you, Ianto," Jack said and Tosh sent Ianto a grateful smile as he made his way to the door.

"I'll leave you to it, then," he said and as suddenly as he had arrived, he was gone again.

"Trying to bribe me, Tosh?" Jack asked and laughed when Tosh blushed bright red. "Don't worry, I would have talked to you even without the coffee. It is a nice touch, though. Anyway, you were saying?"

"Right, hair almost like tentacles, what else? Oh yes, she also had really long fingers. But it actually looked more like she had abnormally long fingernails, with the only exception that human fingernails would have rolled up, not staid straight if they were that long," Tosh continued. "But the most amazing thing was that her feet weren't touching the ground anymore. She was floating a few inches above it and there was some kind of aura around her, like a bubble, but you could move your hand through it without destroying it. But it felt as if the air was denser inside the bubble, as if something was trying to stop you from moving inside it, some kind of resistance. I can't explain it any better than that. Sorry, Jack."

"That's ok, Tosh. I think I have heard about a species like the one you describe before. I've never come into contact with them myself, but I heard stories," Jack said. "One more thing, though. The necklace, did she ever tell you how she got it?"

"She said it was her people's way to communicate," Tosh said.

"Then it's definitely the species from the old stories," Jack said. "I don't know a lot about them, just some vague tales. They're a generally peaceful species. Because of the necklaces it's really hard for them to keep a crime or the preparations for an uprising secret. They can conceal their thoughts, but the stronger their desire for something, the harder it is to keep it hidden. Try actively not thinking about something, it won't work. As soon as you try to block something from your thoughts, it's at the forefront of your mind."

Tosh nodded.

"Whatever Mary did or wanted to do, she must have been really good at concealing her thoughts. The only mention I ever heard of someone being exiled was because no one could read the prisoners thoughts. He had tried to organise a revolt and nearly succeeded, but one of his partners wasn't as guarded as he was, so they were discovered. The leader was exiled because the risk that he would plan something like that again and succeed at keeping it hidden, even under close supervision, was too high. He was just too good at keeping things to himself. I guess that's why they sent a guard with Mary, to make sure she couldn't come back undetected. Things just didn't work out the way they planned."

Jack fell silent after that, a faraway look in his eyes.

After a few minutes, Tosh asked, "Do you know anything else about them, Jack?"

Jack shook his head as if he wanted to clear his thoughts, then turned back to Tosh. "No. Sorry, Tosh. Back then I wasn't really interested in tales about a species I would never actually meet. I wish I could tell you more, but…"

"Don't worry about it, Jack. This already helped a lot, I just needed to know if there was anything, I guess." Tosh shrugged, trying to explain as best she could.

"Too many unanswered questions," Jack said quietly, "I can understand that only too well."

**

By the time Jack sent them home that day, Tosh was dead on her feet, her sleepless night finally catching up with her. She was only glad that it had been a slow day. She would have been useless on a Weevil hunt, most likely even a hindrance, and she was sure Ianto was feeling similarly.

Yawning, she finally unlocked her front door. Her bed was calling out to her, but just when she had decided to skip dinner and go straight to bed, her stomach growled, loudly demanding to be fed.

She made her way to the fridge and took out a carton of yoghurt. Closing the fridge door, her eyes fell on the photo Mary had noticed two days earlier. The photo depicting her and Owen.

And suddenly the sight of the photo she had treasured for years made her angry. Mary had been right! Pining for Owen was pointless, pathetic. He would never notice her; never think of her as more than his geeky co-worker. Not now that he had Gwen, not ever.

"Arghh," she growled and tore the photo off the fridge. Before she could change her mind, she marched into her bedroom and grabbed his birthday card, too. Then she ripped both to shreds.

Any thought of food long gone, she lay down on her bed, dressed as she was and cried herself to sleep. She cried for Mary, for Ianto, but most of all she cried for the naïve little girl she had been.

Before she finally fell into a dreamless sleep, she vowed that things would change now. No more pining for Owen, no more self-pity. Instead, she would go out and actually live her life, not watch it pass her by. Become proud of who she was again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Torchwood or any of its characters, they belong to the BBC and Russell T. Davies.

**Author's Note: **The questions for the pub quiz are taken from when I went to one myself a couple of months ago. For the sake of this story I'm pretending that pub quizzes are roughly the same in the UK as they are here in Germany. The team name for the pub quiz is the actual name my friend Jennifer uses for her team (her father is called Jack). Thank you, Jenny, for letting me use it.

**Chapter 4**

"Are you ready to go, Tosh?" Ianto asked.

Owen nearly spat out the coffee he was drinking. What was going on between Tosh and the tea boy? Earlier when Ianto had made his usual coffee round, they had been laughing so hard that Owen had had to remind Ianto to get his mug of coffee down to the autopsy bay before it got cold, to which Ianto had rolled his eyes and Tosh had shot him a dirty look. And now they were leaving together?

"Yes, I'm ready. Let me just get my purse and coat," he heard Tosh reply, as if leaving with Ianto was part of her daily routine. And Owen knew she had a daily routine, she had a routine for everything.

"Ready for what?" Jack asked and Owen silently thanked him for being a nosy bastard.

"Pub quiz," Tosh said, a smile playing on her lips.

Jack laughed out loud.

'What the fuck is so funny about a bloody pub quiz,' Owen thought. He felt as if he was missing a joke here, he never missed a joke. And when had Tosh ever been in on any, let alone had her very own inside jokes with Jack?

"No, really. There's a pub quiz at the 'White Horse'," Tosh said.

Yes, he was definitely missing something here. This was wrong on so many levels, it wasn't even funny anymore.

Tosh sent a sideways look to Ianto and upon his nod continued, "You can all come along if you want."

"Sure, I'm in," Jack said. "Gwen? Owen?"

"I can't, I promised Rhys I'd be home tonight. It's his mother's birthday," Gwen said.

Jack shrugged, "I'm sure we'll do it again sometime. Enjoy the party."

Gwen looked as if she had been slapped. Owen nearly laughed out loud, had she really been hoping that Jack would tell her to ditch the party? Jack? Who was always after her to enjoy her life outside of Torchwood?

Owen shook his head. 'And you want us to believe you're in a happy relationship? You're not fooling anyone, sweetheart,' he thought. Even if he hadn't known exactly whose bed Gwen spent most of her nights in, he would have had no problem seeing through her act. And it wasn't even him she wanted, Owen knew. 'But Jack doesn't notice you, does he?

"What about you, Owen?" Jack asked, Gwen's dilemma already far from his mind.

"Guess I'll come, too, then. Can't let you have all the fun without me," he said. He would have stuck his tongue out at Gwen, too, if he could have gotten away with it without anyone seeing, but since he couldn't, he settled for smirking at her.

"Great. Let's go," Tosh said happily, sending Gwen a sickly sweet smile. "Have fun, Gwen."

'Looks like Tosh is done with being a doormat. Didn't think she had it in her,' Owen thought, oddly proud.

**

The 'White Horse' was a small pub a ten-minute walk away from the hub. Regulars crowded the bar and groups varying in sizes from three to ten members occupied the tables, blocking the view of the various posters and trinkets adorning the walls.

Ianto had made sure they got to the pub fairly early and they had been able to snag a small table in the back corner. Had they been any later, finding a table would have been hopeless.

Tosh was glad Gwen hadn't been able to come. Not only would she have monopolized conversation, it would also have been impossible to fit a fifth person around the table comfortably. They were already squashed together as it was.

"Well, well. If it isn't Ianto Jones," the pub owner suddenly boomed. "I haven't seen you here in years; I thought you had forgotten all about me."

Ianto smiled. "Hello, Bill. I'm afraid the usual group fell apart when most of us left Cardiff. I haven't been back long myself and it took awhile to get a new group together. These are Tosh, Owen and Jack." He pointed at all of them in turn. "Guys, meet Bill, the owner of this fine establishment."

A chorus of hellos rang out. Bill nodded and smiled at them, then he handed Ianto a bunch of papers for the night's answers. "Good luck, guys."

When he was gone, Jack looked at Ianto questioningly.

"My friends and I used to come here every week, but then most of us got jobs somewhere else and left Cardiff. Now we're scattered all over the country," he explained, a light blush painting his cheeks pink.

Seeing that he didn't want to talk about his old friends, Tosh asked, "What should we call ourselves then?"

"We're Torchwood," Owen said, "What do we need another name for?"

"Oh yes, very inconspicuous, Owen!"

Before Owen could argue, Jack cut in, "Tosh is right, Owen. We shouldn't go around announcing who we are. We're meant to be a secret organization, after all."

"How about 'We know Jack'?" Ianto suddenly asked.

"That's a great idea, Ianto," Tosh exclaimed.

Jack nodded and laughed. "It's perfect!"

Owen rolled his eyes, but was stopped from further arguing when Bill took up the microphone and started explaining the rules.

The first round of ten questions, the picture round, was speedily dealt with by Jack. He had apparently travelled all over the world at some point and had no trouble figuring out which of the monuments in the pictures represented which major city. With each new city he wrote down, Tosh asked more questions about sights and people. Soon the questions turned from human cultures to alien cultures. Tosh was fascinated by every bit of information Jack dredged up from the recesses of his mind, no matter how minuscule it was.

Owen mumbled something about geeks and went to the bar to buy another round of beers, but Ianto seemed as interested in Jack's stories as Tosh.

By the time the second round was started they were listening avidly to one of Jack's more serious accounts of life on Pluto and almost sad to stop and listen to Bill read out the trivia questions. But soon they had forgotten all about aliens on Pluto and were fully occupied with answering questions.

Ianto revealed an enormous stash of obscure little facts and details, stored during his days as a pub quiz regular and enlarged even after he stopped going.

"Once you start going to pub quizzes, you'll remember the most random bits of information. They might come in handy one day, you never know," he explained.

Tosh and Owen laughed, but Ianto only looked at them mock-seriously and said, "Mark my words, kids, soon you'll be walking trivia encyclopaedias, too."

That made all of them, even Jack, who had stayed strangely silent until now, laugh uproariously.

"Question 4," Bill said into the microphone. He waited until everyone had quietened down, then continued, "In which year was the world's population half of what it is today?"

Ianto, Owen and Tosh looked at each other, stumped. How were they supposed to know that? None of them had ever had any interest in population numbers, not even Tosh was that much of a statistics-addict.

"Not too long ago," Jack said into the ensuing silence, "thirty or forty years ago, I'd say."

"I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty unlikely to me," Ianto said and Owen nodded his agreement.

"No, Jack is right," Tosh said. "Population growth is an example of exponential growth, the growth rate is even faster than exponential actually."

"And once more in English, please," Owen demanded.

"Ok, say there are a hundred people somewhere, all of them couples, and every couple has children, most of them more than two as is normal everywhere except the industrialized countries, and then only in recent years. The next generation will most likely be bigger than the first and if they have the same number of children per couple as their parents, the third generation will be a lot bigger still. And so on and so forth. Add to that that the first generation, or parts of it, will surely still be alive when the second generation has their children, you get a very fast-growing population," Tosh explained.

"That sounds logical. But do you really think the population could have doubled in the last thirty years?" Ianto asked. "It's 6 billion now!"

"6.8 billion, actually," Jack cut in. "And yes, maybe not in Europe, but in Asia and Africa the population numbers virtually exploded the last few decades."

"There's been tons of medical developments in the last fifty years or so, too. A lot of diseases people used to die from can now be cured, infant mortality is down. Put all of that together and 3 billion in forty years doesn't sound quite as unrealistic anymore," Owen added.

"So we'll say 1960?" Ianto asked.

"Sounds good to me," Jack answered and the other two nodded.

When the round was over, they waited impatiently for Bill to read out the correct answer.

"Question 4: In which year was the world's population half of what it is today?" he read, "Answer: 1965."

"Damn it," Owen exclaimed, "We were so close! Still, good work everyone."

Tosh giggled. Owen sounded almost like Jack did when he was in boss-mode, but she was glad to see him finally take an interest in the quiz and stop ridiculing everything. He sounded almost as if he was enjoying himself now.

Two rounds later the team was doing really well when another question baffled them.

"Question 7: Which mammal is the biggest land animal that builds nests?"

"A mammal that builds nests?" Tosh asked. "I didn't even know that there were animals other than birds that build nests."

"And how exactly do you define nest in this case?" Ianto added. "Does it have to be in a tree or could it be on the ground or something? Does what a beaver builds qualify as a nest?"

"Let's just say Myfanwy. I bet she's bigger than whatever they have in mind," Jack cut in.

"Myfanwy is a dinosaur, Jack, not a mammal," Owen said. "Now shut up, all of you, and let me think."

"Ooh, Owen's feeling a little bossy tonight, is he?" Jack crowed. "Careful, I might take offense to that."

"Harkness, do something useful for a change and get us a new round of beers," Owen ordered.

Jack laughed, but sprang to his feet and walked to the bar anyway, leaving Ianto and Tosh watching Owen expectantly.

"It won't be one of the four-legged animals," Owen thought out loud, "because they live in dens and I think nest really means in a tree, here. Maybe a sloth, or a koala bear. Or wait, don't apes build nests?"

Tosh shrugged, "I'm no good with animals."

But Ianto looked thoughtful. "That sounds familiar, as if I've heard it before, somewhere."

"We'll pretend it's true then," Owen decided, "Now, what's the biggest ape?"

"An orang-utan, maybe? They're big," Ianto said.

"So, what did we come up with?" Jack interrupted while distributing the beers.

"It's an ape. We're trying to remember what's the biggest ape, right now," Tosh explained.

"Easy. A gorilla," Jack said.

"Yes, of course," Owen exclaimed, slapping his palm against his forehead. "I knew that."

The others laughed and Ianto quickly wrote down the answer. The round was over quickly after that and Bill announced that the gorilla was indeed the biggest mammal that builds nests.

Tosh threw her arms around Owen's neck in a sudden burst of intense pride and happiness. Then, realizing what she had done, she let go of him as if she had been electrocuted and avoided making eye contact with anyone.

Ianto watched Owen's confused frown smooth into a small smile before settling back into his usual expressionless mask. Maybe there was hope for those two after all. Glancing to the side, he caught Jack's eye and sent him a brilliant smile.

The next and final round, the music round, was a disaster for the team. None of them really listened to music, or at least not contemporary music. Only Owen had a vague knowledge due to spending so much time in pubs or night clubs, but he drew the line when it came to love songs. The last round, naming popular love songs after listening to instrumental versions, was a lost cause.

When the final scores came in they still ended up in fourth place though. And Jack decided they had to celebrate with a couple more beers.

**

He'd never admit it, of course, but Owen was having fun. Even now, an hour after the pub quiz had ended, they didn't run out of things to talk about. And it wasn't just Jack telling stories, all of them were equally involved.

Tosh could talk for hours and although she was still serious, she wasn't boring him to death for once. They had gotten around to favourite movies some time ago and Owen was surprised how many of his favourite movies Tosh had actually seen and liked. And it wasn't just their taste in movies it turned out; they had a lot of other likes and dislikes in common as well. He had just never noticed.

'Because you never took the time to get to know her, to get to know any of them,' a voice in his head pointed out.

Owen knew it was true. Apart from Suzie and Gwen, whom he had had sex with, he had never met any of his team mates outside of work. He'd thought Tosh an annoying geek and Jack a shallow flirt. And as long as he always had a fresh cup of coffee, he hadn't thought about Ianto at all. He'd let his first impressions rule the way he saw people and now that he was getting to know them and seeing more than their professional (or in Jack's case not-so-professional) work personas, he realized how grossly he had underestimated them.

Ianto had a wicked sense of humour, Jack was far from shallow and Tosh was actually really interesting.

But his mood soured when he saw a man at the bar watching Tosh intently. His first thought was to alert the others to the potential threat, but from the way Bill was talking to him, he seemed to be a regular. No alien set on destroying the world (or Torchwood) would take the time to go to a pub often enough to be considered a regular.

But if he wasn't an alien, why was he watching Tosh? It took him a while to see it, the man was very subtle, but Owen finally caught him checking out Tosh. And all of a sudden his behaviour made sense. He was a lot less obvious than Owen would have been, but all the tell-tale signs were there. He was on the pull and very interested in Tosh.

The next time the man looked over at their table, Owen shot him a fierce glare and subtly moved his chair closer to Tosh's. Only after the man had looked away again, did he ask himself why the hell he had done that.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** I'm really sorry about the sheer endless delay. When the semester started I basically just stopped writing altogether and then after the semester was over and I had more than enough time to write again I just never got around to actually doing it. I've now gotten a friend of mine to ask me how much I've written every time we chat and I sincerely hope it will keep me motivated. The next chapter is in the works, we'll see how fast I can get it written.

To the people still reading this story: Thank you so much for not giving up on me! You're the best.

**Chapter 5**

"Is it just me or has Jack been flirting more with me lately?" Ianto asked Tosh.

They were sitting in a little café just off the Plass, having breakfast before they had to go into work. For the last week and a half they had made it a point to spend some time together outside of work every day. Sometimes they met for breakfast, sometimes Tosh accompanied Ianto on his lunch run, sometimes they went to the pub after work. And on Sunday, the one day Jack had given them off since they had established their routine, they had met at Tosh's place, cooked dinner together and watched movies. Tosh couldn't remember the last time she had spent as much time with a friend and loved every minute of it.

"It's not just you," she replied, "he's definitely stepped up his game. I think he might be back to the way he was before…"

"Before Lisa ran rampant in the hub," Ianto nodded, wincing at the memories. "That's what I thought."

"Does it bother you?" Tosh took a sip of her coffee.

"That's the thing. It doesn't, not at all," Ianto said, frowning. "It feels right somehow, as if this is the way things are meant to be."

Tosh stayed silent, she didn't know what to say. She had seen the change in Jack and Ianto's relationship after the Lisa incident. They had avoided each other as much as possible, hardly speaking to each other and when it couldn't be avoided only exchanging short, clipped sentences. Then Jack had taken them camping to the Breacon Beacons and ever since Tosh could see a new warmth and respect in his eyes whenever he looked at Ianto. The flirting had started again and soon Ianto's answering smiles hadn't been forced anymore. He smiled genuinely at Jack these days and even flirted back on occasion. Tosh had thought they were on their best way to becoming more than just boss and employee, but wasn't sure how Ianto would react to her thoughts.

Finally she gathered her courage and said, "Maybe that's because it is right, because you're right for each other."

Ianto looked shocked.

"I may be reading too much into this, Ianto, but Jack's different around you. There's something more to his flirting with you; it seems more meaningful than what he does with Gwen, for example. With Gwen, it's habit, but with you, there's more."

"You really think so?" Ianto asked.

"I do," Tosh said. "I'm not saying he'll be declaring his undying love for you any time soon, but he's definitely interested."

Ianto watched her thoughtfully.

"Question is: what are you gonna do about it?" she asked.

Ianto shrugged. "I don't know. He's our boss and we're not on the best of terms as it is, still got lots of trust issues to work through. We really don't need something else complicating things."

"All sound reasons, Ianto, but none of them take into account what you want," Tosh said, "If you really wanted to give this thing with Jack a try, I'm sure you could work out your issues and keep working well with him. It might even be good for you to talk about things and not just ignore them. So all reasoning aside, do you want to see where things with Jack could lead or not?"

"I do," Ianto admitted. "I'm just not sure I want to take the risk. You know Jack, Tosh. Whatever you think you've seen; he's just not the type of guy you have an actual relationship with and I don't think I can deal with being one of his lovers, discarded as soon as he gets bored. I've never been into casual sex."

"I… I understand," Tosh said, "I couldn't settle for some casual arrangement either, but I'm not sure that's all it would be."

Ianto opened his mouth to argue, but Tosh didn't give him the chance to interrupt. "Just think about it, that's all I'm asking," she continued, "and whatever you decide to do, I'm here if you need to talk."

Ianto nodded. "Thank you, Tosh."

Tosh was scared.

Somewhere out there Gwen was dying, dying a slow and painful death, and there was nothing they could do. Suzie had seen to that. Suzie, who had been dead only this morning, had found a way to not only force them to bring her back from the dead, but to then lock them up in their own base. And now she was slowly sapping Gwen's strength, growing stronger and stronger while Gwen came ever closer to death's doorstep. And there was nothing she could do to help.

They were dependent on Detective Kathy Swanson to save Gwen and the arrogant woman was laughing at them. Laughing at Torchwood as if it was their own fault. If only she knew what Torchwood really did. That it was them saving hers and countless other lives night by night, that it was only thanks to them that Cardiff wasn't overrun by aliens. But she didn't. She was completely ignorant and Gwen would pay with her life for that ignorance.

Tosh didn't consider herself a violent person, but at that moment she could have slapped the arrogant grin right off Detective Swanson's smug face.

Finally Swanson was done playing games, but as she read out poem after poem and nothing happened, the hope that had blossomed within Tosh wilted and died again.

'There has to be something else. Think, Toshiko. Think. Gwen needs you.'

"Wait a minute, just had a thought," Tosh suddenly exclaimed, "if words cause the lockdown, maybe numbers reverse it. Try the ISBN, every book's got a different number."

She typed in the numbers as Jack dictated them. As soon as she pressed 'Enter' the lights came back on and the computers rebooted.

"That's it! Everybody move, move, move! Cathy, thank you," Jack hung up the phone then ordered, "Owen, with me. Tosh, you're on comms. Let's move it, people!" And in a flurry of motion Owen and Jack were out the door.

Tosh stared at the spot she had last seen them, wringing her hands. What if they had taken too long to reverse the lock-down? What if they didn't reach Gwen in time? What if she was already dead?

Warm arms wrapped around her body and pulled her into a comforting hug. Ianto. How did he always know exactly what she needed?

"It'll be fine. Jack will bring her back. We won't lose her!"

His overwhelming faith in Jack calmed her. Ianto was nothing if not rational and if he thought Gwen would be alright, Tosh believed him.

Ianto had been right. Jack had brought Gwen back. She was fine, at least physically, and should by now be at home, pampered by the boyfriend she had been desperate to see when Tosh had left the hub.

After the scare today Tosh wasn't ready to be alone just yet. But when she had asked Ianto to go to the pub with her, he had smiled bashfully and told her that he had plans with Jack. Apparently he had done some thinking about what she had said during breakfast and decided to see were things with Jack would go. Tosh was happy for Ianto. He needed someone to distract him from his gloomy thoughts and memories and there was no one better at being a distraction than Jack.

But their date left Tosh without company for the evening. She thought about just going home and losing herself in a good book, but shuddered when she imagined what it would be like to let the silence envelop her. Tonight the silence wouldn't be her friend. She quickly discarded the thought and instead decided to go to the pub anyway. At least there she would be surrounded by other people.

She had been sitting at the bar, sipping on a glass of white wine for only ten minutes, when someone leaned close and a warm, deep voice spoke in her ear, "Your friend not with you tonight?"

Tosh turned to look at the man who had sat down next to her, ready to come face to face with a greasy pervert undressing her with his eyes. What she didn't expect to see was a good-looking man around her age, whose green eyes were firmly fixed on her face. A friendly smile played around his soft lips with not even a hint of a leer to it and his eyes virtually sparkled in the dim light. Dark hair framed his open face and he looked so honest, Tosh couldn't help but smile back shyly.

"No, he had plans with another friend," she said. "Have we met before?"

"Not really," he admitted, his cheeks reddening. "I've seen you come in here a lot lately, though. But I've never seen you here alone. I've been kind of watching you and your friend, trying to figure out if that's all you are, friends, or if there's more."

Tosh blushed. "There's not. Ianto's my best friend and we work together, but that's all there is to it."

The man nodded, seemingly relieved.

"Actually, he's on a date tonight," Tosh added.

"Well then, I hope things work out for him," the stranger said, "I'm Darren Williams, by the way."

"Toshiko Sato, but everyone calls me Tosh."

"I'll stick with Toshiko, if you don't mind. It sounds more exotic and melodious, it suits you well," he said, smiling widely at her.

Tosh blushed. "Thank you."

Bill chose that moment to greet Darren and put a beer down in front of him. They made small talk for a few minutes, before Bill had to go serve another customer.

Silence settled over them after Bill left. Tosh was content to just sit quietly for a while, but couldn't stop a quiet sigh from escaping her lips when her thoughts turned back to Gwen once more.

"Are you alright?" Darren asked, concerned.

"Yea, just a bad day at work…," Tosh explained.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, no," Tosh said, but then found herself continuing anyway, "I found out something about a former colleague of mine today, something I never thought she'd be capable of doing and now…"

"Now you're wondering if you ever really knew her or if what you thought you knew was all just one big lie," Darren finished for her.

"Yes," Tosh said, surprised. But when she looked him in the eye, she could see nothing but understanding there. "How did you know?"

"I'm a lawyer. Over the years I've learned that not everything is what it seems to be, but sometimes I'm still blind-sided by a confession or some new evidence." Darren sighed. "There are too many people out there who are too good at lying and deceiving others. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother taking a criminal off the streets when there are at least two others to take his place right away."

Tosh nodded. Sometimes she wondered if she was doing any good, too. Regardless of how many Weevils they caught or how many aliens they stopped from terrorizing Cardiff, there never was an end in sight. As soon as one threat was taken care of, another made itself known. Her job was never done. Sometimes she felt so very tired, tired of the hunt, the danger, the never-ending fight. But she couldn't stop either, not when she knew what was out there.

"But enough of that," Darren said decisively, "Let's talk about something else."

For the next few hours they kept away from serious topics. Darren had her laughing almost continuously and for a short while Tosh was able to forget about Suzie's betrayal.

The more time she spent with Darren, the more she relaxed and soon she was joking and flirting as much with him as he was with her. He had something about him that made Tosh less self-conscious. For once she wasn't worrying about boring or annoying a man, just her being herself seemed to be enough for Darren and with every burst of laughter from him, her confidence grew.

Owen's derogatory comments had held her back for so long, talking to someone, a man, who seemed actually interested in her was incredibly freeing.

As time went by her barely-suppressed yawns grew more and more frequent though. She knew she desperately needed some sleep, her body was close to shutting down, but she didn't want the night to end. She didn't know if she would ever see Darren again, she had to make this last as long as possible. So she tried to hide her yawns.

But she wasn't good enough. "You're tired," Darren said. "I shouldn't keep you here any longer."

"No, that's alright," Tosh argued, trying to think of a reason to stay.

Darren shook his head, "No, Toshiko. You've had a long day, you're obviously very tired; we can continue this another time."

"Another time?" Tosh asked. Hope grew inside her. Could Darren really want to see her again?

"Well, yes," he said, blushing and looking anywhere but at her face. "I'd like to see you again sometime. Maybe we could do lunch?"

"I'd like that," Tosh said softly, a bright smile on her lips.

"Great," Darren enthused. His answering smile lit up his whole face and when he looked back up at Tosh again, she could see that his eyes were sparkling with happiness. "How about you give me your number and I'll call you tomorrow?"

Tosh quickly recited her number and allowed Darren to walk her to her car. She had parked close-by, so they reached her car sooner than Tosh would have liked. She was again trying to think of something to make him stay just a little longer when Darren pulled her into a tight hug.

Tosh relaxed into his embrace and just enjoyed being held by someone for a few minutes. Ianto had given her a few friendly hugs lately, but this felt different, more intimate. She could feel the heat from his body seep through her clothes and warm her. His arms around her made her feel safe and protected, as if nothing could reach her here.

Much too soon, Darren let go of her again. He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and gave her a soft smile. "Drive safely," he said, then he turned around and walked to his car.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** Thank you to everyone who's reading this, I've really gotten back into this story, so updates should come fairly frequently now. This week is a little busy though, so I probably won't have a new chapter for you before the end of next week. During the writing of this chapter a new plotline materialized itself, so I need to incorporate that into the story somehow. Anyway, enjoy chapter 6.;)

**Chapter 6**

Tosh woke up the next morning with a smile on her face. The sun shone into her room, deliciously warming her skin. She felt amazing, well-rested and ready to take on the world. She stretched like a cat and sighed contentedly. After days of having to drag herself out of bed, she was bursting with energy.

Involuntarily her mind wandered back to Darren. He was perfect, sweet and funny and a joy to be around. She couldn't wait to meet him for lunch that day. They had connected the night before and she had no doubt that he would keep his word and call her.

She felt as if she was walking on air when she reached the hub, not even Owen's grumpy 'hello' could bring her down. She would have liked nothing more than to share her excitement with Ianto and hear about his date with Jack, but he was at the police station, tying up loose ends.

He still hadn't returned when her phone rang shortly after ten o'clock. "Hello?"

"Toshiko? This is Darren," Darren's warm voice rang in her ear. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything?"

"Not at all. How are you this morning?" A small smile stole onto her lips as soon as she heard his voice.

"I'm good, how're you?"

"Me too."

"Listen Tosh, we got a new case this morning and are swamped with work right now. I won't be able to make lunch today, I'm sorry," Darren said, sounding truly apologetic. "Are you free tomorrow though? Things should have quieted down until then."

"If nothing comes up, sure," Tosh answered, "We can't really plan ahead. Something happens and we take care of it. But I'm sure Jack can spare me even if we have a case."

"Alright, do you want to just meet on the Plass at 12? We can decide where to go then?" Darren asked.

"Sounds good. I'll call you if Jack needs me to stay here after all."

"Great. Look, I'd love to talk more, but I really need to get back to work," Darren said. "I'll see you tomorrow, Toshiko."

"I'm looking forward to it," Tosh replied and Darren ended the call.

The rest of the day passed without incident. The rift monitor noted no unusual spikes in activity and Cardiff's resident Weevil population stayed quiet.

Tosh finally got to talk to Ianto and while he was happy for her, he didn't seem to be entirely happy with the way his own night had gone. He didn't say much about it, just that they had had a lot of fun, but Tosh could see a hint of sadness and disappointment lurking in his eyes. She wanted to ask about it, but she knew that Ianto would have said something if he had wanted to talk about it. As it was she decided to give him some time and hoped that the sadness either left his eyes or he would come talk to her on his own.

The next morning flew by and before long Tosh was getting ready to meet Darren. She had put a little more effort into her hair and makeup than usual, but didn't want to appear overdressed for a casual lunch date, so she had opted for a black pencil skirt and a nice light blue sweater; a combination not too different from what she usually wore to work.

She left the hub through the tourist office in case Darren decided to wait for her near the water tower. It had the added bonus of giving her a few more minutes to prepare for meeting him. The anticipation she had been feeling all morning had given way to nerves as soon as she had stepped into the lift. What if she had only imagined the connection between them? What if the easy conversation they had shared was gone and lunch was going to be one big, awkward silence?

But she needn't have worried. As soon as Darren saw her, his eyes lit up and a breath-taking smile spread across his lips. She felt an answering smile stretch her lips when he walked towards her.

When he finally came to stand in front of her, he took her hand, but instead of shaking it, as she had expected, he raised it to his lips and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "Hello, Toshiko. It's good to see you again."

Tosh blushed bright red. "Hello."

"You're well, I hope," he said. Tosh nodded shyly and he continued, "There's a new café near my office that I'd like to try, what do you think?"

"That sounds lovely," Tosh said. "We normally rely on Ianto to get lunch and make sure we eat."

Darren smiled. "Great!"

"Is this guy for real?" Owen laughed. Gwen, Jack and Owen were grouped around Gwen's computer, watching Darren kiss Tosh's hand on CCTV. Ianto didn't approve, of course, but no one had expected him to. "Seriously, who does he think he is? Romeo?"

"I think it's sweet," Gwen said.

Owen scoffed, "You would." He still couldn't quite wrap his mind around Tosh being on a date. Since when did Tosh date? Or rather, when had men started being interested in geeks? Well, 'men' was a pretty loose term in this case. What self-respecting man kissed a woman's hand? Pussy!

Gwen continued ooh'ing and aah'ing while Owen grew more and more frustrated. He could see Tosh's smile on the CCTV footage and he could imagine the way her eyes would be lighting up, he had seen it often enough when she had explained some piece of alien tech to him.

Why did the thought of her giving someone else that smile make him want to hit something? The feeling was by no means new. He had experienced it for the first time after the pub quiz when some guy had checked her out and since then every time someone who wasn't part of the team had looked at her.

Owen shook his head violently. He must be going insane from lack of action.

Meanwhile Tosh and Darren had reached the café. Even though it was verging on autumn there were still tables set outside, affording a lovely view across the bay. Not many of them were actually occupied, the majority of guests preferring to eat inside where it was warm, but Tosh thought eating outside had a certain charm, too, even though it was slightly colder than was strictly comfortable.

Apparently Darren thought the same. "Do you want to sit inside, or…," he trailed off.

"No, it's such a nice day. And mild enough to eat outside, I think," Tosh replied.

"Outside it is, then." Darren gave her a brilliant smile.

They chose a table on the edge of the café's patio, as far away from the other occupied tables as possible, and Darren held the chair out for her. Tosh blushed again, no one had ever treated her like this, like she was a lady. But Darren seemed to be a true gentleman, kissing a lady's hand and holding out chairs for them, he probably opened doors, too. Such a contrast to Owen's coarse language and manners. _No, Tosh, you promised not to think about him, _she silently admonished herself. _Just enjoy lunch with Darren._

Before the silence between them could become awkward, a waiter appeared and handed them their menus. They perused them quickly, Tosh settling on the soup of the day and half a sandwich, while Darren ordered fish and chips.

After the waiter had left again, Darren leant back in his chair and stretched. "Ah, this is great," he sighed. "Ever since yesterday morning the office has been a madhouse."

"You said you got a new case?" Tosh asked.

"Yes, we did. I can't tell you too much, but you might have heard about the Princess kidnappings last year? The little girls kidnapped during or after their sixth birthday parties? It was all over the news," Darren said. "The police finally gathered enough evidence to make an arrest, so we can prosecute."

Tosh nodded, she had heard about the gruesome series of kidnappings. "So you work for the prosecution, not as a defence lawyer."

"That's right. I'm not the lead on this one, but I am one of three lawyers who will prosecute this case in court," Darren explained. "We're still a long way from the first hearing though. At the moment we're mostly doing research, trying to figure out what we can actually prove and what is only conjecture. You wouldn't believe how confusing police reports can be. More often than not, we have to call in the cops to explain them to us."

Tosh giggled. "I bet they just love that."

Darren's bark of laughter was loud enough to startle the businessmen enjoying their lunch on the other side of the patio. "I'm sure it's the highlight of their day. They probably live for the chance to explain all their hard work to a bunch of ignorant lawyers," Darren said. "But enough about me, what is it that you do? You mentioned that your schedule was quite unpredictable, too."

Tosh bit her lip. This was the part she hated. She didn't want to lie to him, but she knew she had to. No matter how much she liked him, she didn't know him well enough to know if he was trustworthy and even then she couldn't tell him about Torchwood. She wouldn't put the burden of knowing what was out there on anyone. So she tried to stay as close to the truth as possible while giving nothing away, "Yes, I'm part of a team of specialists, I guess you could say. Something happens; we're called in to take care of it."

"Like a taskforce?" Darren asked.

"I guess," Tosh said, afraid she had already said too much. He was a lawyer, of course he knew all the police departments, he probably knew every cop on every taskforce in Cardiff, too. Or had at least worked with most of them at one time or another.

"Alright, alright. I'll stop asking, I can see you don't want to tell me," he joked.

"It's not that I don't want to," Tosh tried to explain.

"It's alright, Toshiko, really. I understand the need for secrecy," Darren smiled softly at her. "Can you at least tell me what it is you do on this taskforce?"

Tosh sighed in relief and sent him a brilliant smile. He was far more understanding than she had hoped for. "I'm the techie. Mostly I stay behind at headquarters to work the comms, monitor CCTV footage and all different kinds of readings we get in. But I'm also responsible for the team's equipment. Anything that's high tech, it's probably my responsibility."

"So you're like Q!" Darren exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Nowhere near as cool," Tosh laughed, "but yes, that's probably the closest you can get to what I do."

At that moment the waiter brought their meals and for a few minutes the only sounds were the clatter of cutlery. Tosh didn't mind the silence while they ate, but at the same time she felt as if she had to say something, had to start a conversation and steer it away from the topic of their respective work or Darren would continue asking about Torchwood.

Finally her mind seized on an idea. "So does the food live up to your expectations?" she asked.

"Yes, it's great. I think this café could very well become a regular haunt for my lunch hours. How do you like your soup?"

"It's good," Tosh answered, "but I'm confused. You're a regular at the pub, so you have lived here for a while; shouldn't you also have a regular place to go to for lunch?"

"I did," Darren nodded. "I used to go to the Chinese place two streets over, but it closed a few weeks ago. I've lived on sandwiches ever since because I didn't have the time to try a new place before now."

They finished their meal and when the waiter arrived to take away their dishes, Darren asked, "Do you have time for coffee or do you need to get back to work right away?"

"Sure. No one's tried to call me yet, and Jack would be blowing up my phone if something needed my immediate attention," Tosh said, checking her phone again to be on the safe side.

Their coffee arrived soon after. Tosh breathed lightly on the steaming liquid before taking a first, experimental sip. "Not bad," she judged, smiling fondly, "not as good as Ianto's but I doubt there's any in existence that is."

"Ianto?" Darren questioned, "Isn't that the friend you go to the pub with?"

Tosh was surprised for a moment before she remembered that she had mentioned Ianto to Darren the other night. Then she felt flattered that he had listened closely enough to what she had said and cared enough about her to remember something so trivial. "That's him, yes. I don't know how he does it, but his coffee is gorgeous. Ever since the first time he made some at work, nothing else will do and we keep pestering him for fresh coffee all day long."

"Poor guy, to be kept from doing an honest day's work in order to feed his colleagues' coffee addiction," Darren chuckled.

"Yes, life can be cruel like that," Tosh laughed, "but I don't think he'd have it any other way. He's a bit of a coffee snob, you see. If it's not his coffee, he won't drink it."

"Well, if his coffee is really that much better than everyone else's, I can't blame him."

They joked around for a little longer before Darren needed to head back to work. "I had a really great time, Toshiko," he said when they were standing at the corner, about to head in different directions. "I hope we can meet again soon. Maybe dinner and a show, or something? Do you like the theatre?"

"I do, yes, I don't get to go nearly often enough," Tosh smiled. "I don't even know what they're playing at the moment."

"I'll find out and call you," Darren promised.

"That would be great."

Even though they knew they had to get back to work, both of them seemed to want to draw out the moment as long as possible. Finally Darren sighed and glanced at his watch, "I'm sorry, I really need to get going. I'll call you later, ok?"

Tosh nodded, wondering if he would hug her again, of if she should initiate the hug this time. Would she have the courage to hug him? Would he even want her to? But before she could worry too much, Darren leaned towards her and gave her a lingering kiss on the cheek. "I look forward to seeing you again."

Tosh blushed ten different shades of red, but smiled widely. "Me too."


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note: **I'm sorry for making you wait so long, but this chapter seriously kicked my ass. I knew what needed to happen and where I should end up at it's end, but for the longest time I had no idea how to get there. In the end I decided to just write whatever came to mind and I was really surprised when I saw that not only was the chapter not as short as I had feared, it nded up being the longest to date. I have no idea when that happened, but I hope that makes up for the long wait somewhat.

**Chapter 7**

The next few days passed quickly. Tosh had a new spring in her step and an almost permanent smile on her lips, not even Owen's increasingly sour mood could get her down.

She hadn't seen Darren since their lunch date, but they talked on the phone every night and sent each other little text messages throughout the day. It had been years since Tosh had been close to anyone outside of Torchwood, or anyone at all, really, and she was surprised how quickly she had gotten used to having someone to talk to at the end of the day. Someone who asked about her day and seemed genuinely interested in what she had to say.

While she didn't have much to share most days, Darren was always full of little stories about his colleagues, his friends and his family. And with each new story, Tosh felt the importance of what she did even more acutely. She was keeping these people safe and enabling them to live the carefree, monster-free lives that created all those funny and heart-warming moments Darren told her about.

She had thrown herself into her work with new vigour, completing reports in record time and coming up with a plethora of little things that would make their screening programs and other software even more efficient. Jack had listened intently to all her proposals and then sent her to work on them on the condition that she went home at a reasonable time every day and didn't work through the night.

A few days later he had commented on how happy he was to see her leaving at five every night and told her he wanted to meet the man who had put the light back into her eyes. She had blushed and laughed him off, but inside she was relieved that he approved. He had no doubt gotten Darren's name from Ianto and run a background check on him. Tosh had been tempted to do so herself, but had ultimately decided she would rather have a normal relationship and get to know Darren bit by bit as he himself divulged little secrets and let her see different facets of his character. Jack's favourable response to the background check told her that she had been right to trust her instincts.

As Saturday night and their second date drew closer, her nerves made themselves known again. Darren had gotten them tickets for Hamlet and before the show he was taking her out to dinner. Tosh had spent a long time contemplating her wardrobe that afternoon, taking out dresses, trying them on and then discarding them again. It was times like these when she wished she had a female friend who could have helped her choose or gone shopping for a new outfit with her. For a second she had thought about asking Gwen, but she was still acting strange around her because of what she had found out while wearing Mary's necklace. Or it could be because she had stopped sleeping with Owen; Tosh had noticed a decidedly frosty atmosphere between the two of them lately.

In the end she had settled on a dark green dress with a modest sweetheart neckline that fell down to her knees in a flowing skirt. She had just finished applying a second coat of mascara when the doorbell rang. After taking one final look at herself in the mirror, she hurried to the front door.

Darren had his back turned to her as he surveyed the street, but quickly turned around when he heard her open the door. His gaze ran up and down her body and a smile spread across his lips as their eyes finally met, "Good evening, Toshiko. You look lovely tonight."

Tosh felt the heat rush into her cheeks even as her eyes lit up and her lips stretched into a smile. "Thank you, Darren. You look handsome yourself," she said, taking in his black slacks and crisp white dress shirt. With the first few buttons undone, he looked a lot more relaxed than he had in the suit and tie she had seen him in on their lunch date.

Darren inclined his head in thanks and produced a beautiful sunflower from behind his back. "This is for you," he said a little sheepishly, "to symbolize the light and joy you have brought into my life."

"Oh Darren, that's… Thank you," Tosh said, shyly taking the flower from him. No one had ever brought her flowers before. "I'll put it on my nightstand, so I can see it every morning when I wake up and every night before I go to sleep."

"I'm glad," Darren said, sounding relieved. "We have reservations at six, so…"

"I'm almost ready, just let me put this in water and we can go."

Darren took her to a small Italian restaurant away from the bustle of the city centre. He explained that he hadn't wanted to take her to a Chinese or Thai restaurant in case she didn't like the European version of Asian food, as he was sure that it was nothing like the real thing. Tosh assured him that she didn't mind and ate Chinese regularly at work, but she was secretly touched by his thoughtfulness.

They were seated at a small table next to a picture window overlooking a small backyard that was perfect for seating people in the hot summer months. The lights were dimmed inside the restaurant and the warm glow of candles added to the intimate atmosphere.

Tosh felt a little tongue-tied at first, but Darren soon put her at ease, making small talk while they perused their menus. As the evening went on he questioned her about her family, her hobbies and her life in Cardiff. Tosh managed to skilfully avoid the reason why she hadn't seen or heard from her family in years and instead talked at length about her childhood in Japan and the problems she had had when she first moved to England, long before she had joined Torchwood and moved to Cardiff. If Darren noticed that she avoided talking about the present, he didn't let it show.

The night continued as perfectly as it had started and Tosh almost felt like a normal girl. It was only when her phone vibrated shortly before intermission, indicating a new text message, that the outside world made itself known again. Fishing her phone out of her purse, Tosh saw that it wasn't a mere text message after all, but a rift alarm. She was about to give Darren some excuse and leave, when her phone vibrated again, this time with a message from Jack.

_We've got it covered. Enjoy your date!_

She sighed and dropped her phone back into her purse. Jack had never told her not to come in before. Instead he had always pointed out how invaluable her expertise was and that none of the others could replace her. The fact that he had just told her to stay put suddenly made her feel expendable, when he had always made her feel special and important before. Logically she knew that Jack wasn't telling her that he didn't need her anymore. He told Gwen not to come in all the time when she was with Rhys. But Gwen never listened to him and she thought Jack knew that and counted on it, just like he knew Tosh wouldn't disrespect a direct order.

"Everything ok?" Darren asked softly, leaning closer to her so he wouldn't disturb the other theatre-goers.

"Yes, everything's fine," Tosh whispered back, her voice a little chocked.

The night was shot, Owen decided as he raced through the dark streets. And he had been so close to scoring with a hot little blonde, too. Why couldn't the rift stay silent for once while he was on the pull? Was it really too much to ask to have one night a week that he didn't have to work and could unwind and have a little fun? It was no wonder none of them had a life outside of Torchwood, the rift wouldn't let them.

He arrived at the park Jack had directed him to just as the heavens opened their gates. _Of course it has to rain_, Owen thought sarcastically, _what would a Weevil hunt be without rain?_ He quickly checked if he had his Weevil spray on him, before he braved the weather and headed into the park.

"I'm here, where am I going?" he asked after he activated his comm.

It crackled to life immediately, but he was surprised to hear Gwen reply, not Tosh. "Jack and Ianto are three hundred metres to the west of your position. They're closing in on the Weevil."

"Got it," Owen replied and ducked into the woods to his right. He couldn't hear anything, so Jack and the teaboy hadn't engaged the Weevil yet. At least he hadn't driven to the other side of town in vain, but the lack of sounds of fighting also meant that he had no idea where to go. He tried to walk in a relatively straight line in the direction Gwen had indicated, but the trees in this part of the park were very thick and forced him to deviate from his course more than once.

He cursed under his breath. The way it looked, he was going to get lost in this stupid forest and miss all the action.

He was about to give up and ask Gwen what was happening, when he heard something a little ways ahead of him. The noise grew louder and soon he could make out the sounds of heavy footsteps and the snapping of twigs.

_Looks like I can stop looking for our friend_, Owen thought, _bugger_ _found me first_.

Up ahead he spied a little clearing that seemed perfect for taking down the Weevil and from the sound of it, the alien was headed right for it as well. Owen crept closer, careful not to alert the Weevil to his presence. He clutched the Weevil spray tightly in his right hand while the left reached up to activate his comm again, "Gwen, I think it's coming towards me. Where are Jack and Ianto?"

"Hold on, Owen," Gwen answered, then a few seconds later, "Jack says they're right behind it, they'll chase it into your arms."

"Great! Let's get this show on the road," Owen said and cracked his knuckles.

He got into position at the edge of the clearing just as the Weevil broke through the underbrush on the other side. It seemed confused by the sudden lack of trees in front of it. His momentary disorientation gave Owen the opportunity to attack. He sprang forward, getting as close to the Weevil as possible, and sprayed its face with Weevil spray. Suddenly blinded, the Weevil flayed its arms, trying to fend of its unseen attacker. Owen saw the movement out of the corner of his eye and ducked to the side at the last second. Air rushed past his ear and ruffled his hair, showing him how close the Weevil had come to taking his head off.

The Weevils movement grew sloppy as it staggered around the clearing, trying to reach Owen, who danced away from its grasping arms lithely. Jack and Ianto arrived on the scene just as Owen manoeuvred his back against a huge tree and ran out of space.

"Need a hand?" Jack called jovially; distracting the Weevil and making it change direction. It took two more steps before it collapsed, the spray finally knocking it out.

"I had it under control," Owen grumbled.

Jack laughed. "Sure you did."

Owen glared at him and Ianto, who was quietly smirking behind Jack. "One of you two clowns have some rope to tie it up?" he asked, nudging the Weevil with his foot.

"Of course," Ianto replied and got to work securing the Weevil.

Jack looked on for a few seconds then turned to Owen. "Sorry for ruining your night. We probably could have dealt with this on our own, but the rift spike was pretty big."

"You want us to search the area? See if anything else came through?"

"No, I think we're good. We would have noticed another Weevil or some other alien and if it's an object we won't find it now anyway," Jack decided. "We can come back tomorrow and bring Gwen and Tosh along to help."

Owen nodded. "Where is Tosh anyway?"

"She's on a date," Ianto answered while he tied the last knot. "Darren is taking her to the theatre."

_Date, date, date_. The word echoed through Owen's head incessantly. It felt like a punch to his stomach and he almost doubled over from the pain. He didn't understand these feelings, but they were so strong it was impossible to think rationally. All he could think was this one sentence, _Tosh is on a date_. He hardly heard the rest of Ianto's answer, he was so far gone in his mind that Ianto's voice sounded as if it was coming from very far away.

Suddenly he remembered that Tosh had left early every day this week. Had she left so she could see _him_? And if she had, why did he care? He had been on the pull earlier, why should it matter to him that Tosh was getting laid, too? But it was more than that. She wasn't just having one-night stands with random men, she was in a relationship. She was officially off the market and suddenly that bothered him tremendously.

Tosh had been distracted throughout the rest of the play. During intermission she had half-heartedly answered Darren's questions about the play, but her thoughts had been with her team. What had the rift alarm been about? Had it been just a Weevil or had something bigger and more dangerous come through? Were the others ok without her or was there some of the equipment giving them trouble? She had told Jack about the changes she had made, but she had yet to show him how they worked. Should she have gone in despite having been told to stay put? In the end she reluctantly took her seat again after the intermission.

The second half of the play was a blur in her mind, but now that they were outside, walking back to Darren's car, she tried to pay attention to her date again. Jack would have called by now if they had needed her after all and she was beginning to feel bad for practically ignoring Darren. She could think of nothing to say that would make it better, though, so she stayed silent and the next time their hands brushed against each other, she slipped her small hand into Darren's much larger one and squeezed it lightly. Darren gave her a smile and squeezed back.

The ride back to Tosh's house passed in silence, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Their hands were still clasped together and she was slowly stroking the back of Darren's hand with her thumb. A soft smile graced her lips as she watched Darren's profile while he drove. Every now and then he squeezed her hand or turned to smile at her.

They reached her house and Darren hurried around the car to open her door and help her out of the car. Tosh accepted his hand gratefully and let him lead her to the front door.

"I had a great time tonight, Darren," she said. Darren looked at her sceptically. "Really, I did. Dinner was wonderful and the theatre was great, too."

Darren still looked unconvinced, but he relaxed slightly. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, I had a really great time, too. I hope we can do it again sometime."

Tosh smiled a wide, honest smile. "So do I. I have to go into work tomorrow, but can I call you after?"

"You work on Sundays?" Darren asked.

Tosh shrugged. "I used to go in on Sundays all the time because I had nothing better to do and it beat sitting at home alone," she explained sheepishly, she could feel her face heat up with her admission, "but there are actually a couple things I need to finish up tomorrow."

Darren touched her red cheek with his fingertips. "Then I hope those don't take too long and we can meet up after."

Even after she had ignored him half the night, he was still sweet and considerate and Tosh couldn't help herself. She went up on her tiptoes, dislodging Darren's hand in the process, and pressed her lips against his. Darren was stunned, but after a few seconds he got over his shock and returned her kiss. He lifted his hand to cradle her jaw and ran his tongue over her lower lip, asking for entrance.

Tosh sighed in pleasure. His lips were impossibly soft against her own and when their tongues met, she felt a thrill run through her entire body. Her hands came up to tangle in the short hairs at the back of his neck, alternating between tugging at them and massaging the back of his head.

Their tongues tangled with each other, but the kiss stayed slow and sensuous. Time became meaningless as they discovered each other and shared intimate secrets with their lips and tongues. Electricity crackled between them and Tosh could feel the tingle in every fibre of her being. Later she could hardly believe osh felt shricity crackling bettween them nd shared intimate secrets with their lips and fibrethat one, seemingly simple kiss had been enough to evoke these feelings in her. She replayed every second of it excessively and was left breathless each and every time.

They were finally broken out of their haze by the slamming of a door further down the street. They broke the kiss but put their foreheads together and looked into each other's eyes as they gasped for air.

"I guess I should say goodnight," Darren whispered once he had regained his breath.

Tosh made a little mewl of disappointment that had Darren smiling widely but agreed, "I guess you should."

Darren pressed another quick, closed-mouth kiss to her lips and took a step back. "Goodnight, Toshiko. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Darren."

Tosh watched him walk back to his car with a dreamy sigh. Darren was absolutely perfect. With one last wave, he started the car and drove off, leaving Tosh caught in a warm haze of contentment, her earlier frustration with Jack long forgotten.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: **Here's another update for you. My friend and I are trying to write something every day and so far it's worked out great (or you wouldn't be reading this chapter right now). I started the next one today and hope to get it done before I'm going on holidays next Sunday. I'll be gone for 10 days, visiting friends in Ireland and England (they're spending a semester studying there) and won't have my laptop with me, so if there's no update before Sunday, it won't come until almost two weeks later, I guess. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's another long one.^^

**Chapter 8**

He moved her hair to the side and planted an open-mouthed kiss right behind her ear, eliciting a low moan from her parted lips. He allowed himself a pleased smirk before he trailed kisses down her throat and over her bare shoulder, moving the straps of her bra and dress out of the way as he went. His other hand ran up and down her spine sensuously.

Her skin was becoming hypersensitive, goose bumps covered her arms and a pleasurable shiver ran down her spine. Her fingers were twisted together where they rested in her lap as she desperately tried to hold onto something so she wasn't swept away by the waves of sensation. She was too far gone to return her partner's attentions, but that was exactly the way he wanted her.

A sharp beeping rang through the air that had been filled only with sounds of pleasure for the longest time now.

"Please not again," Darren groaned. His hands left her body and he let his head fall onto the back of the couch.

Tosh was trying to get her bearings as she rooted through her purse for her phone. One glance at the display was enough to make her grimace. "I'm sorry, Darren, I…"

"Let me guess, you have to leave," Darren said, annoyance seeping into his voice. "Damn it, Toshiko, that's the third time in two weeks you've run out on me. And once again I'm not getting an explanation, am I?"

Tosh was torn. She wanted to tell him so bad, wanted him to know without a doubt that she would stay if she could, but that there was no way she could ignore this call. Their relationship had grown by leaps and bounds in the weeks they had known each other and she felt completely at ease with him. She would have liked to say she trusted him completely, but after what had happened with Mary, she was extra cautious when it came to Torchwood. She wanted to come clean and let him into her life fully, but she needed some sort of proof that she wasn't being taken advantage of again.

And the proof needed to come soon, she knew, or there would be no one to come clean to. Lately the rift had been especially active and Darren was running out of patience. He knew there was something she wasn't telling him and with every time she refused to explain, he grew more frustrated. She would tell him soon, she decided, with or without proof, but not tonight. Tonight she had to go do her job.

"I'm…," she started but was cut off with a wave of Darren's hand. He still wasn't looking at her.

"Don't apologize," he said, his voice cold. "Just leave!" He made no move to get up and see her out; instead he put his arm over his eyes and sighed deeply.

Tosh's throat tightened and tears gathered behind her eyes, but she had no time to make things better, no matter how much she hated leaving things unresolved between them. With another sad look at Darren and a whispered "I'm sorry" she left.

Night turned into day and the hub was alive with activity. None of the members of Torchwood had gone home or slept since the rift alarm had come in the night before and still they had no clue what they were dealing with.

When they had arrived on the scene of the rift spike, there had been a red-orange, three-armed humanoid alien lying dead on the street while another was just slipping around a corner further down the street. Gwen and Jack had run after it, but by the time they had reached the corner, the alien had vanished without a trace.

So now the team was spread out all over the hub, trying to figure out what their mystery alien was and what had killed it. Owen was down in the autopsy bay, taking the alien apart looking for clues to the murder weapon. Tosh was searching the city for the run-away alien using a complicated new program. Ianto was scouring the archives for anything that could be helpful and Gwen was looking through hours worth of CCTV footage. There had been no cameras where the aliens had appeared, so she needed to take the cameras in the general vicinity and hope the alien had passed one of them at one point during the night. While the rest of the team had been busy with their respective tasks, Jack had locked himself into his office, looking for some peace and quiet to think.

"Yes!" Owen's sudden shout cut through the silence. "Got it!"

As if his voice had been projected throughout the hub, Ianto suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs leading to the archives and Jack came out of his office. Gwen and Tosh joined them and together they made their way to Owen.

"What do you have?" Jack asked as he leaned against the banister at the top of the stairs to the autopsy bay.

"You see this thing here?" Owen asked, pointing at a thin, grey rod almost hidden between folds of flesh.

"Looks like a giant needle," Jack said, "what is it?"

"That's what killed our friend here. Looks like it can be pushed out when the alien feels threatened and wants to attack. It's located on the side of its abdomen, near as I can figure, so it's the right height and shape to have caused the weird stab wounds I couldn't place earlier."

"So the other alien killed it?" Gwen asked.

"Bingo, give the girl a cookie." Owen clapped mockingly.

Gwen glared at him, turned on her heel and headed back to her desk without another word.

"Was that really necessary, Owen?" Tosh asked, shooting him a murderous look.

"Not necessary, Tosh, but funny. That was funny," Owen smirked.

"Not from where I'm standing," Tosh replied and went back to her computers. On the way there she met Gwen's curious gaze and sent her a shy smile. The other woman smiled back and just like that, they had made the first step towards rebuilding their friendship.

"Alright, now that we know what killed it, we _really_ need to find its friend," Jack said as he moved away from the autopsy bay. "Any luck in the archives, Ianto?"

"No orange aliens with giant retractable needles, sorry Sir."

"Tosh?"

"Nothing, sorry, Jack." She shook her head.

"Anything catch your eye, Gwen?" Jack moved behind her seat to look at the CCTV footage on her screen and started playing with the ends of her hair.

"Nothing. Maybe it went underground," she mused, smiling up at Jack happily.

"Maybe," Jack agreed, squeezing her shoulders.

"So we need to figure out where and when it will come up again," Ianto chipped in, seemingly unruffled by Jack openly flirting with Gwen.

Tosh couldn't believe how calm he was. If it had been Darren doing the same to her, she would be spitting nails, or sitting in a corner somewhere, crying her eyes out.

"Alright. Gwen, keep going through the security camera footage and sent some to me so I can help. Tosh, compile a list of every sewer access and what's close to it and figure out where our friend is likely to come up again. Owen, I want more information on the alien. Anything you got: age, sex, preferred food, anything. Ianto, back to the archives and when you're through there, help Tosh," Jack delegated, "Oh and could you get us some breakfast before you go back down?"

Ianto nodded, but Jack had already turned around and was walking back to his office. "I'll take my usual, thanks," he called over his shoulder before he closed the door.

Tosh watched Ianto while he made the rounds, asking Gwen and Owen for their orders. She thought she could detect a slight slump to his usually straight shoulders, but his face remained inscrutable. When he stopped at her desk, she reached out and put her hand on his arm before he could start talking. "Are you ok?" she asked quietly so no one else would hear.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" he answered, his face giving nothing away.

"I… Doesn't it bother you when Jack flirts with Gwen right in front of you?"

"No, that's just Jack. It doesn't mean anything," he said and Tosh wasn't sure who he was trying to convince, her or himself. She let it go anyway, because it was obvious that he didn't want to talk about it and this wasn't the time and place for a heart-to-heart anyway.

Instead she gave him her order and squeezed his arm, hoping he knew that she would be there for him if he wanted to talk later. "Do you want me to come with?" she asked when he turned to leave the hub.

Ianto turned back with a genuine smile on his lips. "No, I've got this, but thanks for asking."

Ianto was walking back to the hub from the small bakery where he had bought breakfast, desperately trying not to let his thoughts wander to Jack, when he heard someone call his name. He turned around and saw a tall, dark-haired man in a suit hurrying towards him.

"You're Ianto, right?" the man asked as he came to a stop in front of him.

Ianto nodded cautiously. "And you are?"

"I'm Darren, Darren Williams, Toshiko's boyfriend."

"Of course, I'm sorry I didn't recognize you. Tosh talks about you all the time," Ianto replied, smiling and holding out his hands. "It's nice to finally meet you."

Darren took his hand, but he didn't smile. "Does she talk about running out on me, too? Because she does, all the time, and she won't tell me where she's going, Just that she has to leave," he said, anger clear in his voice.

"I'm sure she has her reasons," Ianto tried to explain. "If she says she has to leave, then she has to leave. And if she says she can't tell you where she's going, then she really can't. Tosh wouldn't lie about that, that's just not her."

Darren grimaced. "You know why she leaves and where she goes, don't you?"

Ianto was surprised. He usually prided himself on being almost impossible to read, but this man, who had never talked to him before, saw right through his careful words. If he kept lying to him now, it would only aggravate him further, so he begrudgingly admitted, "I do, but it's not my place to tell. I won't go behind Tosh's back like that."

"I understand," Darren said and sighed, the fight seemed to drain from his body. "It's just… Look, I know she's your best friend and you don't want to betray her trust, but I really need you to tell me the truth. Is she cheating on me?"

Ianto's jaw dropped. Whatever he had expected Darren to say, it wasn't this. "Cheating? That's what you think is going on?"

Darren shrugged, apparently thrown by Ianto's honest confusion. "What am I supposed to think? Her phone rings at all hours of the night, even on Sundays, and she just runs out. She doesn't even answer the phone, she just leaves. So I got to thinking, maybe it's her husband or a live-in boyfriend or something, telling her that he's on his way home. No idea why he would be out and about at crazy times like this, but what do I know about it?"

In that moment, Darren looked like a man barely holding on to his sanity while being plagued by doubts and suspicions.

Ianto's heart went out to him. He knew what it was like to lie awake at night weighing possibilities, but he could also understand why Tosh hadn't told him about Torchwood. Jack would flip his lid if he found out and she'd be hard-pressed to stop him from retconning Darren. And even if she told him, it was still possible that Darren wouldn't believe her.

Ianto sighed quietly. He had to do something or Tosh would have been happy for the longest time. "She's not cheating on you," he finally said, "I know you have no reason to believe me, but it's the truth. I can't say more than that, but there's no husband, no live-in boyfriend, no boyfriend of any sort except you."

"So what do you suggest I do?" Darren asked, sounding defeated.

"You have to trust her. Trust that she isn't keeping this from you to hurt you and that she really does have to leave when she says she does," Ianto said.

"That's a whole lot of trust," Darren whispered. "What if I can't do that?"

"Then you have to talk to her," Ianto said. "If you want your relationship to work, you have to tell her why you need to know, what you're afraid of. All I can tell you is that she's not cheating on you and that she has a valid reason for leaving. The rest she has to tell you herself."

"Do you think she will?" Darren asked.

Ianto took a moment to think, weighing Tosh's dedication to her job against her current happiness and the strength of her wish to stay happy. Finally he said, "Yes, I think she will. If you tell her what you just told me, that the way she acts makes it seem like she's cheating on you, I don't think she will refuse to tell you. I've never seen her happier than she has been since she met you and I don't think she would jeopardize your relationship and her happiness like that." _Even if it means picking a fight with Jack_, he thought.

"Thank you, Ianto," Darren said, sounding truly grateful. "I don't know what I expected you to tell me when I saw you walking down the street, but this really helped."

Ianto smiled.

"Can you ask her to call me tonight after work?" Darren asked. "You are on your way to work, right?"

"I am and I will," Ianto said. "Good luck, Darren. You're a good man. I hope to see you again soon. Maybe when you meet the rest of the team?"

Darren smiled for the first time that morning. "We'll see. Thanks again, Ianto." And with that he turned and walked away.

When Ianto returned to the hub, Jack, Owen and Gwen were hurrying out the door. After they had left, Tosh told him that Owen had found nothing less than half-digested parts of a human child in the dead alien's stomach. A quick search had found only one primary school close to a sewer access big enough for the alien to fit through, so the others had gone there in hopes of finding it before it got hungry. The school must feel like an all-you-can-eat buffet to it, so they banked on it lying in wait close to it.

As it turned out the alien really was hiding in the sewer close to the school. As soon as Jack started down the ladder to join it, it attacked, so they had no choice but to kill it. They still couldn't explain why it had killed its fellow alien, but at least the immediate danger was over, so Jack sent the others home.

It was hours later, when they lay next to each other on Jack's bed, panting but satisfied, that his thoughts returned to Tosh's words. _Doesn't it bother you when Jack flirts with Gwen right in front of you?_ Of course it bothered him; it more than bothered him. But what could he do about it?

His respect and admiration for Jack had given way to stronger emotions soon after they had started their affair – if you could even call it that. The other man was in his heart now, in his blood, and Ianto knew he wouldn't get out of this unscathed. Every way he turned, he saw heartache and pain looming on the horizon. Jack had made it clear from the beginning that this was sex, nothing more, and that he would never be interested in anything more either.

Ianto had pretty much come to terms with that. It still hurt to know that Jack would never return his feelings, but he had known going into this that it was a very real possibility. What really scared him was the thought that one day Jack would get bored with him and just drop him in favour of someone else, or that he would begin seeing someone else behind his back. And he was terrified that that person was going to be Gwen.

So Tosh's question had fallen way short of its mark. It didn't bother him, it terrified him. But there was nothing he could do about it. He could only trust that Jack would tell him if their arrangement stopped working for him.

Something Darren had told him earlier came back to haunt him. _That's a whole lot of trust. What if I can't do that?_

Yes, what if I can't do it? He had told Darren to talk to Tosh if he wanted the relationship to work, but they actually had a relationship. What was he supposed to say to Jack? I know this is just sex to you, but can you promise me never to hook up with Gwen? No, that wouldn't do at all, that would be asking for too much as far as Jack was concerned.

But there was one thing he could ask for, if he had the courage. Jack's answer could go either way, he could agree or he could call off their arrangement right there and then. Could Ianto really risk that? And if he didn't, how long could he live with the uncertainty?

In the end he decided the risk was worth taking. "Jack…," he began hesitantly, "what am I to you?"

"What do you mean, what are you to me?" Jack asked, sounding truly perplexed.

"Am I just one of many? Have you been with anyone else since we started this... thing?" There, he'd said it. It was out there now and the only thing he could do was wait for Jack's reaction.

"Ianto? I thought we agreed that this wasn't…," Jack began but was cut off by Ianto.

"I know, but I need to know. I don't think I can keep doing this if I'm not the only one," he said quickly, mentally preparing himself for the rejection he was sure was about to come.

Jack stayed silent so long that Ianto thought he wouldn't answer at all. He was about to get up off the bed and leave when Jack finally spoke. "There's no one else," he said, his voice was somewhat strained, but sincerity rang in every word.

Ianto breathed a sigh of relief and felt his body relax back into the pillows. He hadn't even noticed how tense he had become, but it was really no wonder. Jack's answer was everything he had wanted and hadn't dared hope for. Even if he never got more than that, it would be enough to keep him going for the rest of his life. He couldn't stop the wide smile from spreading across his lips.

"This is really important to you, isn't it?" Jack asked close to his ear.

Lost in happy thoughts, Ianto hadn't even noticed him move closer, but when he looked up he saw that Jack's face was only a hair's breadth away from his own. Their eyes met and Ianto couldn't breathe. Feelings swirled in Jack's eyes he had never seen there before; affection, joy, he thought he could even detect a hint of love.

"Yes, it's very important to me," he finally whispered and closed the distance between their faces, taking Jack's lips in a deep kiss.


End file.
